Stringer-support for electric third rails.



No. 781,661. PATBNTED FEB. 7, 1905. F. E. KINSMAN.

STRINGER SUPPORT FOR ELECTRIC THIRD RAILS.

APPLIOA'IION FILED JULY 28,1903.

flank E A415 Mm BY W BM ATTORNEYS INVENTOR WITNESSES:

Patented February '7, 1905.

tlNITED STATES PATENT UFFICE.

FRANK E. KINSMAN, OF PLAINFIELD, NElV JERSEY.

STRlNGER-SUPPORT FOR ELECTRIC THIRD RAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,661, dated February 7, 1905.

Application filed July 28, 1908. Serial No- 167,255.

To 0]]- whom/ it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK E. 1(INSM.\N, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Plainlield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stringer Supports tor ElectriclhirdRails, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction and manner of mounting electric third rails employed on electric railways for furnishing power to the motor on the car by means of a collecting-shoe moving on said rail.

The objects of my invention are to secure eheapness, high insulation, facility of repair, and to make it possible to readily remove the rail and house it for protection against the weather during seasons when the railway is not in use.

It has heretofore been proposed to construct electric third rails with stringers of wood having 'a conducting-strap on the top thereof, said stringer being spiked down to the ties of the road-bed, thus making it impossible to remove the same from season to season, so that it remains exposed to the weather during winter season, and rapidly deteriorates. hloreover, such wooden rails when exposed to the weather, especially during rain-storms, permit a great deal of leakage. ln most of them there is also an objection on account of the exposure of the live conductor, which objection I also aim to remove by my present invention.

My invention consists, first, in an improved third rail comprising a stringer of wood mounted upon insulated pins or posts detachably supported upon the road-bed,said stringer being provided with a strap or strip of conducting material from which the shoe takes the current.

My invention consists, further, in an improved third rail comprising a stringer of wood, a conductor secured thereto, and a bracket attached to said stringer and supporting an insulating-shield over the conductor.

My invention consists also in an improved third rail comprising a stringer of wood having a conductor secured to it and provided with sockets which receive the heads of insulators of the usual construction, such as are employed for telegraph and telephone wires, and which heads are lirmly locked or fixed in said sockets.

My invention consists also in an improved third rail comprising a split stringer of wood, two parts of which are fastened together by a transverse bolt upon suitable insulator-hezuls fitting into the sockets formed between the meeting sides of the split stringer.

My invention consists also in the means for forming a joint between the meeting ends of the rail-sections and in other details of construction, whichwill be more particularly hereinafter described, and then specilied in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a partial longitudinal section of a portion of rail embodying my invention. Fig. 52 is a vertical section of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows a detail. Figs. 4, 5, and (5 illustrate modilications in the manner of supporting the insulator-pin on the permanent way or road-bed. Fig. 7 is a transverse section through a rail or support of modilied form. Fig. 8 is a moditication in the form of insulator-head. Fig. 9 illustrates the preferred way of securing the stringer to the insulator.

Referring to Fig. l, 5 is a stringer or beam of wood carrying a strip or rod of conducting material 2, which may be of copper and fastened or secured to said stringer in any desired way. This conductor 2 may be of any desired form. In Figs. 1 and 2 it is shown as a rod, while in Figs. at and 5 and 7 it is shown as a strip or bar.

Various means may be used for fastening the conductor 2 to the wooden stringer. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the conductor may be provided with an ear 6, having a head 1, adapted to receive the screw-threzulml end of a bolt L, or, as shown in Fig. 7, a bolt having an enlarged head may be soldered to the under side of the strip and may be fastened by a nut 3 on the lower side of the stringer.

Other forms of conductor and other means for securing the same might be employed; but

I prefer to use the devices shown and described, since they permit ready renewal or repair in case of damage or destruction of the stringer or the conductor.

At suitable intervals the stringer is provided on its under side with sockets which receive the heads 8 of an insulator, said head being, if desired, of the form now in the market and used for telegraph and telephone purposes. Preferably the head of said insulator is locked in the socket by providing a rope, wire cable, or other expander '9, which is located in the circumferential groove around the head 8. The head 8 is provided with the usual insulating-skirt and, as usual, is mounted upon the pin or post 7, the latter being in turn mounted upon the foundation 10, which may be a tie of the road-bed or other suitable support, from which said pin is preferably detachable, or removable, as shown'in Fig. 1,

where the lower end of the pin fits in asocket in the foundation. As shown in Fig. 1, the pin might be provided with a flange at its bottom to permit it to be bolted to the foundation, or, as shown in Fig. 5, the pin might be screw-threaded and fit into a socket tapped to receive the same and itself mounted in the foundation 10. The pin 7 might be either of iron or wood, efiicient insulation being provided by making the head 8, as usual, of porcelain or glass.

Instead of a single skirt-insulator it is obvious that a double skirt insulator, as shown in Fig. 8, might be employed and that the head of the insulator might be secured in the socket by a screw-thread, as indicated in Fig.5.

Instead of making the pin detachable from the foundation it might be anchored therein, as indicated in Fig. 6, in which case, however, it would be necessary to secure the stringer to the head of the insulator by means permitting ready attachment thereof. This end might be attained, as indicated in Fig. 9, by splitting the stringer longitudinally and securing it upon the head 8 by a transverse bolt passing through the stringer and serving to secure the two halves thereof upon the head, which enters a suitably-formed socket formed between the meeting sides of the longitudinal sections.

As indicated in Fig. 7 the post or pin for the insulator might take the form of a bracket of such shape that it can be bolted against the vertical face of a suitable support.

To protect the conductoragainst accidental contact, a shield 12, of insulating material, is employed. This shield may be in the form of a strip or stringer of wood of suitable width running longitudinally of the third rail and located immediately over the conductor 2. It is mounted in position by means of brackets 13 of metal or other suitable material, which are bolted or suitably fastened to the side of the stringer, while their overhanging ends afiord means for attachment of the board or shield 12, which should be preferably of the gable-roof form, as shown in Fig. 7, to prevent use of it as a footway.

Between the meeting ends of sections of thethird rail means may be provided for holding the parts firmly together against longitudinal strain and making electrical connection between the sections of conductor 2.

The end of one section of conductor may be provided with a projection 18, projecting longitudinally therefrom and adapted to enter the socket (indicated at 19)in the meeting end of the adjacent section when the parts are drawn together and there held by the bolt 17 passing through ears and flanges 16 of blocks 26, secured to the conductors at their meeting ends. By means of the projection 18' good connection is formed between the sections of conductor 2.

Detachably mounted on the end of the con-' ductor is a sleeve 23, provided with a lateral arm or projection 24 below the level of the contact-surface of the conductor, which arm or socket may receive the terminal of a feeder for feeding current to the contact-rail. By

' locating this arm or projection 24 below the level of the contact-surface of the conductor it will be out of the way of the collectorbrush or trolley traveling on said conductor.

When the rail is split, as indicated in Fig. 9, it is desirable to leave a vertical space hetween the two sides or portions of the stringer, which affords a space through which foreign material lodging on the top of the rail may drop. This form of rail is especially useful where it is desired to employ a pair of contact-rails insulated from one another, since said rails may be secured, respectively, to the two halves of the stringer, as indicated, while the space between the bisected stringer aids in keeping the said contact-rails insulated from one another.

What I claim as my invention is 1. The improved electric third rail herein described comprising a stringer of Wood provided with a conductor attached thereto and with sockets toreceive the porcelain or other non-conducting heads of electric insulators mounted upon suitable pins.

2. In an electric third rail, the combination of a stringer of wood bearing a conductor and insulator-pins carrying heads of insulating material which enter sockets in the lower side of said stringer.

3. A detachable electric third rail comprising a stringer of wood having an electric conductor secured to it and provided at intervals with insulator-pins and insulator-heads entermounted on the railroad-ties while the insulated heads carried by said pins enter sockets in the stringer. V

In an electric third rail, the combination of a stringer of wood or other non-conductor, an electric conductor secured thereto, brackets fastened to the side of said stringer, a shield fastened to said bracket, and an insulator-pin provided with a head of insulating material to which said stringer is secured.

6. In an electric third rail, the combination with the stringer-sections each carrying a cond uctor, of brackets or ears, and a bolt passing through said ears for holding the adjacent conductor ends in contact.

7. In an electric third rail, a stringer of wood split longitudinally and provided with means for securing the split portions together upon the head of an insulator.

8. The combination in an electric third rail, of a wooden stringer, a conductor secured thereto, a metal bracket fastened to the side of said stringer and provided with a lateral extension and a strip of wood fastened to said extension over the conductor.

9. In an electric third rail, a detachable feeder-block or attachment mounted upon the abutting ends of the contact-rail.

10. In an electric third rail, the combination with the electric conductor mounted thereon, of a sleeve adapted to he slipped upon the end of said conductor and provided with a lateral gear or projection for attachment of a feeder connection.

11. In an electric third rail, a bisected stringer of wood or other non-conducting material each part of which carries a conductor combined with means for clamping the two halves upon the head of an insulator.

12. In an electric third rail, a longitudinally-bisected stringer of wood or other material the two parts of which are separated by a free air-gap and combined with means for clamping the same upon the head of an insulating-support.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 17th day of July, A. D. 1903.

FRANK E. KINSMAN.

W'itnesses:

E. L. LAWLER, C. T. TISCIINER, Jr. 

